Rockland County Executive Ed Day at Thursday's all-day opioid addiction and training conference at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. Additional training is planned at a similar event in June.
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Rockland County Executive Ed Day participated in an event on opioid addiction Thursday at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

“Events like this are critically important to raise awareness and share strategies to combat this opioid epidemic. You have people who have been victims, people related to victims, medical professionals and people on the front lines of this crisis working together to have an impact on this scourge,” Day said.

There were speakers who gave background information on the opioid epidemic, both nationally and throughout the Hudson Valley, according to John Lyon, a county spokesman. They discussed the current best practices in treatment of opioid addiction, held a panel discussion about how addiction affects more than just the individuals but also their families and friends, and concluded with a demonstration of Narcan, which is an opiate antidote that can reverse the effects of opioids, including heroin and prescription pain pills.

If administered fast enough, Narcan can literally bring back to life a person who has overdosed on pain killers or heroin.

Day said, “It can happen in any family, in any neighborhood. Too many of our children, our neighbors, our friends have been lost to the opioid epidemic. Rockland County is fighting back by hosting Narcan trainings before the opioid epidemic steals any more of our friends, family or neighbors.”

The next Rockland County training will be at Konbit Nèg Lakay, 16 E. Church St., Spring Valley at 5:30 p.m. on June 14. That training will include distribution of free Narcan rescue kits. Anyone is welcome to participate but registration is required. Call 845-425-4623 for details.